E1M9: Sunlight Altar (Sold Soul)

E1M9: Sunlight Altar is the ninth and secret map of Sold Soul. It was designed by Fryuko and uses the music track "Dark" from .

Essentials
The deep water surrounding the complex is instantly fatal if you fall into it. If you have a Chaos Device, keeping it equipped is recommended when you are outside.

Walk forward to some Crystal Geodes guarded by sabreclaws (or ophidians on thou art a smite-meister (SM) skill level or higher), then head due east to a door which is protected by followers of D'Sparil and a weredragon. Go through the door and head down some stairs, then turn left at the bottom to see a trident switch (defended by an iron lich on bringest them oneth (BTO) or higher) that will open some gates outside and release a sabreclaw behind you. Go back outside, noting the nitrogolems that have been released to the south, then proceed north to a courtyard which contains more nitrogolems, sabreclaws and iron liches; they will be joined by disciples of D'Sparil and ophidians that teleport in. There are four switches in the corners that must be pressed in order - north-west, south-west, north-east and south-east - to open the barriers blocking your way out, which have more sabreclaws and some weredragons waiting behind them.

Go through the west barrier and follow the hallway outside to a walkway, kill some waiting disciples then head north towards some chaos serpents who are guarding a door; on SM or higher, watch out for the nearby iron liches as their whirlwinds can push you into the water below. Open the door to enter a room with nitrogolems and ophidians, press the button on the west wall then go back outside, ready to face some disciples that have teleported in, and follow the walkway north and east past some weredragons to get to its east side. Open the door in the west wall to enter a room with sabreclaws, disciples and chaos disciples then go down the steps to collect the green key; taking it causes two chaos serpents to teleport outside. Go back to the west side of the walkway, to the first door you opened, then carefully run west across some small platforms opposite this door to a ruined structure, ready to kill some fire gargoyles that teleport in. Follow the bridges on either side of the structure to another platform with green gizmos and press the switch here; this will open a door in the middle of the structure revealing the yellow key, as well as bringing in disciples (and one or two chaos wyverns on BTO or higher).

With the yellow key, head back to the walkway surrounding the main building and go to its north side, where a large bridge leads to the northern-most building. Go through the door at the other end of the bridge to enter a hall with followers, nitrogolems and weredragons (or iron liches on SM or higher), then press the button at the north end of the hall to bring in a maulotaur and a death knight; you must kill both monsters to open the bars at the north end of the hall, which have the blue key behind them. Take the key, destroy any sabreclaws that teleport to the hall then go back to the walkway and follow it east and south to find a door at the end - open this door and look left to see a weredragon guarding a blue key door, which has two disciples behind it guarding the exit teleporter.

Other points of interest
After lowering the barriers in the courtyard, go through the north door to find the titular altar holding a Lightbringer - taking it will allow chaos serpents to teleport in.

Secrets

 * 1) Head west of the start and drop down the waterfall to get a Phoenix Rod and Flame Orbs. (sector 69)
 * 2) Fall south-east of the Hellstaff platform onto an island, then fall onto the east side to get a Chaos Device and Greater Runes. (sector 526)
 * 3) At the south-west end of the outer walkway, look south-west to an island to find a switch. Shoot it to open the east door. Take the path to four Sun Runes. (sector 1382)
 * 4) In the room with the button that lowers the green key, head to the south-east column and find a hidden switch on its south-east side. This lowers an Enchanted Shield in the middle. (sector 1608)
 * 5) Head around the east side of the northern-most building to find Nova Runes. (sector 2723)
 * 6) On the east side of the outer walkway, head to the south-east side where the barrels are and step on to the railing, then walk south and drop down to get a Mystic Urn. (sector 3284)

Bugs
When you enter the courtyard for the first time, the south entrance will close behind you; if you then use a Chaos Device to teleport out before re-opening the barriers, you will not be able to get back inside the courtyard.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on December 16, 2021.

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level: